Chronatog Avatar MTG Card

Rarity	Rare
Type	Vanguard
Released	2003-01-01
Set symbol
Set name	Magic Online Avatars
Set code	PMOA
Number	59
Frame	2015
Layout	vanguard
Border	black
Illustred by	UDON

Key Takeaways

Skipping turns with Chronatog Avatar can be a tactical advantage in the right deck.
Requires discarding cards, which could be a costly strategic play.
Works best in specific metas and combos with turn-based mechanics.

Text of card

You have no maximum hand size. : Draw three cards. You skip your next turn. Activate this ability only once each turn.

Card Pros

Card Advantage: The unique ability of Chronatog Avatar allows players to skip their turn as a resourceful way to avoid unfavorable game states while setting up for more advantageous situations without losing card presence on the battlefield.

Resource Acceleration: Playing Chronatog Avatar can essentially speed up your game plan. By forgoing your turns selectively, you concentrate resources and plays into specific turns, giving you potential leaps in resource development compared to your opponent.

Instant Speed: Though not an instant itself, Chronatog Avatar enables strategies that revolve around instant speed interactions by ensuring you have untapped mana on opponents’ turns due to skipping your own, thus providing ample opportunities to disrupt their plays with your instant-speed spells and abilities.

Card Cons

Discard Requirement: Engaging with Chronatog Avatar requires a player to discard two cards, which could be detrimental when you’re holding onto key strategy pieces. This sacrifice might outweigh the temporary advantage gained from skipping your turn.

Specific Mana Cost: A precise mix of mana is needed to cast this card. The demand for both blue and colorless mana can be restrictive, hindering its inclusion in multi-colored or mana-flexible decks where accessing the right color combinations consistently is less guaranteed.

Comparatively High Mana Cost: Clocking in at a total of four mana, its cost may feel steep when considering the available alternatives. Control decks, often in need of efficient and impactful plays, may find the cost for suspending the game not justifiable, especially when other cards could further their game plan more substantially with less resource commitment.

Reasons to Include Chronatog Avatar in Your Collection

Versatility: Chronatog Avatar offers a unique ability to skip turns, allowing players the strategic advantage of avoiding untoward situations. It serves well in decks that can exploit time, setting up defenses or complex board states while leapfrogging over potentially hazardous turns.

Combo Potential: This card shines when paired with effects that benefit from passing turns, such as “time counters” on suspend cards. Its synergy with delay mechanics and stasis strategies opens the door for creative and potentially game-winning combos.

Meta-Relevance: In certain metagame environments where control decks reign supreme, Chronatog Avatar’s ability to dodge sorcery-speed removal or sweepers by skipping turns can provide an unexpected edge, making it a contender in specific strategic builds.

How to beat

Chronatog Avatar presents an unusual challenge on the battlefield, embodying one of the more unique abilities in Magic the Gathering. This card brings to the table a strategy that revolves around skipping turns to activate formidable effects, potentially leading to a game lock where the opponent is unable to act. Unlike traditional threats, the conventional approach to removal or damage prevention won’t suffice against this avatar.

Combatting the Chronatog Avatar effectively requires a strategy that prevents it from leveraging its turn-skipping ability. This might include employing instant speed spells that can disrupt or remove it before the ability is used, such as Path to Exile or Rapid Hybridization. Additionally, using cards that restrict abilities from being activated, like Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker, can neutralize the Avatar’s advantage. Cards that force draws, like Howling Mine or Dictate of Kruphix, counterbalance the skipped draw phases, mitigating one of the key downsides of its strategy. Finally, maintaining a faster pace with aggressive decks and strategies that push for an early win can also ensure victory before the Avatar’s effect becomes relevant.

Keep in mind that although the Chronatog Avatar may initially seem overwhelming, with the right tools and strategies, it can be overcome, allowing you to maintain control of the game rhythm.

Cards like Chronatog Avatar

Chronatog Avatar takes its place among the unique ‘Avatar’ creature cards within the MTG universe. It shares a cosmic kinship with other avatars like Karona, False God, which can dramatically swing the tide of battle with her substantial influence on creature types. Yet, Chronatog Avatar diverges from this path with its ability to essentially pause the game for its controller, skipping turns in favor of invulnerability.

Looking at similar cards, there’s the original Chronatog from which this card derives inspiration. While the original Chronatog offers the foundational ability to skip turns at the cost of tapping, Chronatog Avatar enhances this concept. With the Avatar, turn-skipping becomes a defensive tool, triggered by the opponent targeting you with spells or abilities, giving it a more reactive nature.

Another parallel can be drawn with the card Meditate, a spell that provides the benefit of drawing cards at the steep price of missing your next turn. While Meditate serves as a one-time effect gly focused on an immediate advantage, Chronatog Avatar provides a continuous threat that can alter how opponents strategize throughout the game.

Navigating these strategic dimensions places Chronatog Avatar in a fascinating niche of MTG cards that manipulate the fundamental flow of gameplay, presenting intriguing tactical decisions around the use of time as a resource.

Where to buy

If you're looking to purchase Chronatog Avatar MTG card by a specific set like Magic Online Avatars, there are several reliable options to consider. One of the primary sources is your local game store, where you can often find booster packs, individual cards, and preconstructed decks from current and some past sets. They often offer the added benefit of a community where you can trade with other players.

For a broader inventory, particularly of older sets, online marketplaces like TCGPlayer, Card Kingdom and Card Market offer extensive selections and allow you to search for cards from specific sets. Larger e-commerce platforms like eBay and Amazon also have listings from various sellers, which can be a good place to look for sealed product and rare finds.

Additionally, Magic’s official site often has a store locator and retailer lists for finding Wizards of the Coast licensed products. Remember to check for authenticity and the condition of the cards when purchasing, especially from individual sellers on larger marketplaces.

Below is a list of some store websites where you can buy the Chronatog Avatar and other MTG cards: